Seattle Schools: Ungifted education

Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, December 11, 2007

We don't immediately recollect Seattle Public Schools bragging overly much about having the best programs around for gifted students. In light of a damning report, a measure of silence was probably a good policy.

The report on the the district's elite Accelerated Progress Program, one gifted option, suggests a district that has, at least until recently, let itself fall far behind the times on gifted education in a variety of ways. Perhaps it is easiest to single out professional development -- or its lack -- to understand the history of neglect. In one of just three good points the report's authors could find in reviewing APP's professional development, they say: "The current administration has recognized the negative impact of more than 20 years without a systematic plan for staff development."

Reading the report by authors from the University of Virginia leaves an impression of a district that only recently recognized problems had accumulated; many were centered on narrow, rigid views and practices. This probably won't come as a shock to involved parents in gifted, alternative and special education, many of whom have long worried about administrations they perceived as either uninterested or even hostile.

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It's encouraging the district launched the review and appears committed to improvements. The report praised the district's awareness of a need for recruiting students from all income and ethnic backgrounds for gifted programs.

In talking with a P-I reporter, Chief Academic Officer Carla Santorno, while debating the behind-the-times indictment, singled out key problems as fields where the district wants to move forward. Those include better training and evaluation of staff and improved curriculum. We were particularly heartened to hear Santorno talk about spreading advanced learning opportunities more widely among high schools.

This report and others covering various programs and practices will help Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson assemble a strategic plan. But the district has enough problems in gifted education to demand a sustained response. You can't remedy neglect overnight.